


Cupidity

by RockSunner



Series: Smart Adversaries AU [41]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anti-Love Potion/Charm, Chat Noir Reveal, Episode: s01 Dislocœur | Dark Cupid, F/F, F/M, Identity Reveal, Kidnapping, Romance, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-29
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-26 07:52:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18278981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RockSunner/pseuds/RockSunner
Summary: What if Dark Cupid shot Marinette instead of Alya?





	1. Mailbox

Marinette and Alya stood before the mailbox at the corner of the entrance to the Place des Vosges, which was right across from Marinette's house. Marinette had a heart-shaped valentine clutched in her hand. She had answered the love poem that Adrien had dropped in the trash in the classroom that morning, but now she was nervous about making the commitment to dropping it into the mail.

"Come on, Marinette!" said Alya. "Do it before you chicken out!"

Marinette nervously slipped the valentine into the slot for local mail.

Alya said, "Yeah!"

Marinette shouted, "I did it!"

They hugged to celebrate Marinette's courage in finally confessing. Then their phones signaled incoming text messages. They were both from Chloé.

"Chloé? Since when did _she_ start texting _us_?" asked Alya.

The message had an attached image of Kim, kneeling and presenting the piece of jewelry that they had both seen that morning. He had been splashed with water and a potato chip bag was stuck to his face.

"What a witch!" said Alya.

"And I was the one who told Kim to do it!" said Marinette. "I didn't know he was talking about _her_!"

"Dang, I hope Adrien doesn't do the same thing to you," said Alya.

Marinette panicked and started tugging at the mailbox to try to get the love letter back. She jumped on top of the box and tugged some more. It was useless.

Alya said, "I mean—Girl, calm down! Adrien would never do that."

Alya looked up and saw a flying person in a red costume.

"What in the world is that?" Alya said, pointing up.

Marinette turned to look.

* * *

Dark Cupid looked down at the two potential targets.

Alya was holding two heart-shaped candy apples. That made her a good symbolic target.

"All hearts must be destroyed!" he said to himself.

Then he changed his mind. Marinette was a better choice, with her sappy optimism – telling him to "go for it" when all that got him was humiliation.

His arrow struck Marinette and gave off a black puff of smoke as it vanished. Marinette's lips turned black.

* * *

"You set me up to mail that valentine!" Marinette snarled at Alya. "Why did I let you talk me into it? I hate Adrien, and I just disgraced myself by sending him a love note."

"Girl, what has happened to you?" said Alya. "It's me, your BFF, remember?"

"We're not friends. I hate you!" said Marinette, jumping down from the mailbox and closing in on Alya with her fists raised.

Alya stuck the candy apples onto Marinette's chest and ran before the akuma victim could attack her.

Marinette pulled off the apples and threw them to the ground.

Tikki peeked out of her purse. "Marinette, what's going on?"

"I don't like you anymore, Tikki, but I'm still your master. You're going to help me fix a big mistake."

Marinette ran to the nearest partial cover in the park, one of the benches. There didn't seem to be anyone looking, so she called out her transformation phrase.

"Tikki, spots on!"

The scowling, black-lipped Ladybug walked back to the mailbox. Whirling her yo-yo at high speed, she sliced open the box.

There was her valentine. To her disgust, she realized that it was not only without a signature, but without an envelope, stamp, address, or return address. It might have gotten to Adrien anyway, because it had gotten stuck with a bit of candy apple coating to another valentine addressed to him. Now it wouldn't: Ladybug ripped both valentines to shreds.

There were several more valentines for Adrien in the box and she ripped them all up.

"Good work," Ladybug told herself. "I really despise Adrien. What else can I do to him today?"


	2. Portrait

Ladybug had Adrien's schedule memorized. He should be at home now – she could wreck his room and terrorize him.

She started swinging with her yo-yo, swiftly covering the short distance from the park to the Agreste Mansion.

Le Grand Paris Hotel was diagonally across the street from the mansion. Ladybug saw Chloé in front of the hotel, taking delivery of an ornately framed picture.

"Ugh! I never said 18-karat gold!" Chloé shouted at the delivery men. "Those gold tones will never match my 24-karat toilet! Idiots!"

Ladybug saw who was in the picture: Adrien! She sent her yo-yo flying at the portrait to smash it.

Chloé screamed and jumped back as the yo-yo flew by her. This caused her to be missed by the arrow Dark Cupid had just aimed at her. It hit the side of the delivery truck instead.

"Ladybug, why did you destroy my precious portrait?" Chloé complained.

"I hate your precious Adrikins," said Ladybug with a sneer in her voice.

The delivery truck sped off. Sabrina, realizing the danger they were in, pulled Chloé toward the hotel.

Dark Cupid took one more shot at Chloé, but Sabrina threw herself in the way. The arrow hit and her lips turned black.

Sabrina snarled at Chloé and chased her into the hotel. "I hate you! You're a stuck-up witch!"

Ladybug decided not to get involved.

"Ladybug, I won't let you stop me," Dark Cupid called from above. "I'll never stop! If I can't have love, then no one can!"

Ladybug glared up at him. "Just because I hate people I used to love doesn't mean I love people I used to hate. I hate Hawk Moth and his akumas for making me have to fight all the time. I'm taking you down, Dark Cupid."

"I'm gonna take your Miraculous for Hawk Moth," said Dark Cupid.

"I'm tired of Hawk Moth's greed for my Miraculous," said Ladybug. "I'm tired of his cupidity. Get it?"

"No," said Dark Cupid.

"The word 'cupidity' means greed," said Ladybug. "Never mind."

Ladybug swung toward Dark Cupid, not bothering to dodge as another arrow struck her and released a puff of black smoke.

"What happened?" asked Dark Cupid. "Why didn't that stop you?"

"Your arrows are useless against me," said Ladybug. "You can't make me hate more than I already do."

Reaching the closest rooftop under Dark Cupid, Ladybug used her yo-yo to catch him around one leg. She pulled him down and tied him up with her yo-yo line.

"Are you going to break my akumatized object?" asked Dark Cupid. "That's what you do for everyone else."

"I have a better idea. Hawk Moth can only make one akuma at a time, so if I keep you prisoner he'll be powerless," said Ladybug. "I just need to find a good place to stash you, where nobody will find you. I'll bring you food and water to keep you alive – there will be no more akumas."

The purple and black butterfly left Dark Cupid and he reverted to Kim in a burst of purple magic. The magic leaked off the butterfly and it turned white again.

"Hawk Moth just removed my power. That's what he said he would do if I didn't get your Miraculous," said Kim.

"I didn't know he could do that," said Ladybug. "No akuma victim remembers what Hawk Moth said to them afterwards."

"I remember everything. I guess it's different when the power is pulled than when you break the akuma free."

"I wish that had worked, but since it didn't you're free to go," said Ladybug. She unwound the string that was binding Kim. "I don't like you, but I don't hate you enough to bother with you."

"Thanks... I guess. What about the cure charm?" asked Kim. "Can you cast that? Fix the people I made into haters?"

"I've never done it without freeing the akuma first. It might still work...Hawk Moth released the akuma himself."

"Why not give it a try?"

"I don't want to. It would put me back to being all lovey-dovey. I want to stay just I am... because I want a satisfying revenge on a certain person."

Ladybug looked over at the Agreste Mansion. Kim was running off and he didn't notice.


	3. True Love's Kiss

Chat Noir vaulted up to the roof where Ladybug was standing.

"Ladybug, I need to talk to you," said Chat. "Hey, black lipstick looks good on you. It goes with your spots."

"This isn't a good time," said Ladybug. "I'm busy."

Chat Noir held up a finger to her lips. " I swore to myself that I'd tell you as soon as I saw you. Ladybug, I love you."

"Huh! Well, I don't like you," said Ladybug.

"Not even as a friend?" asked Chat sadly.

"Not at all."

"That can't be right. Something has happened to you... I think it's because of that villain I saw on the news, flying around and shooting arrows."

"I was shot by Dark Cupid. All my love had turned to hate. The person I used to love the most, now I hate the most."

"How can we cure you?"

"I don't want to be cured! I want revenge on the person I used to love."

"Why?"

"He's a complete idiot – he was oblivious to the feelings I had. Now I can make him suffer."

"This isn't you, Bugaboo. I have to try something..."

Chat Noir grabbed Ladybug and gave her a kiss.

Ladybug pushed him back and threw her yo-yo to bind his arms. She got up close, in his face.

"What was that for?" Ladybug hissed. "That was an assault."

"True love's kiss is supposed to break the evil spell. Love conquers hate."

"Even if that fairy tale nonsense were true, I never loved you enough for that!"

Ladybug grabbed Chat Noir's right hand.

"I'm going after my enemy. I need my yo-yo back, so I have to take your Miraculous to keep you from getting in my way."

Ladybug pulled the ring off and gasped at what she saw.

"Adrien Agreste! I don't have to go after you... you've come to me."

"I'm your worst enemy? That means you...were..."

"Don't say it! I'm disgusted with myself for ever having feelings for you."

"What are you going to do with me?"

"I think I'll hold you for ransom. Your rich father will pay well to get you back."

"You're turning to a life of crime?"

"Why not? I need a stake to set myself up on my own somewhere. I can't stand the thought of living with my parents anymore. I hate them."

Ladybug put her hand in Adrien's pocket and pulled out his cell phone. She breathed on it to find the unlocking pattern, and found the entry for Gabriel Agreste. She called it.

"This is Gabriel Agreste's voicemail. To leave a message, please call my secretary."

Ladybug next called Nathalie.

"Hello, this is Nathalie Sancoeur for Gabriel Fashions."

"This is Ladybug. Tell Mr. Agreste that I have his son Adrien. If he wants to see Adrien alive again, he must pay me one million euros in cash. I will call back to arrange the time and place for the payment."

"Ladybug a kidnapper? Is this a prank call?"

"Dark Cupid removed love from my heart. You must take my threat seriously – I will not hesitate to hurt Adrien."

"I need proof that you have Adrien, and that he's all right."

Ladybug put the phone to Adrien's mouth. "Say something."

"Nathalie, Ladybug has me," said Adrien. "I'm at..."

Ladybug snatched the phone back.

"That's enough," said Ladybug. "Give my message to Mr. Agreste."

* * *

Ladybug picked up Adrien and in a series of leaps took him to Notre Dame Cathedral. She had explored the building once when hunting an akuma, and she knew a part of it that was seldom used.

"Now we wait," Ladybug said. "I won't gag you if you promise not to yell for help."

Adrien nodded agreement. They waited in silence for a while.

A purple-and-black butterfly flew in. Ladybug extended her yo-yo line from the end that wound around Adrien. She caught and purified the akuma.

"Hawk Moth must sense my hatred and he's using it to target me," said Ladybug. "But akumas are easy to defend myself against."

"He can keep sending them and he may catch you off-guard sometime," said Adrien.

"I'll get out of town once I've collected your ransom."

Adrien tried a desperate plan.

"Ladybug, you don't believe in fairy tales?"

"No. I used like them but now I don't. They're stupid."

"Do you believe that a true love's kiss would work if you kissed me as myself?"

"No. It's all nonsense."

"If you kissed me and proved it didn't work, it would remove my last hope. It would make me miserable."

"I like the idea of making you miserable," said Ladybug.

Ladybug grabbed Adrien's face and gave him a rough kiss. Her lips returned to normal color. She stepped back, shaking her head in confusion.

"Huh?" said Ladybug. "What happened? How did I get here? Adrien? Why did I tie you up?"

"It's a long story... but now I know something about you that I didn't before, Ladybug."

"What?"

"That I'm the one you love."

"What? W-who told you that?"

"You did, while you were under the influence of Dark Cupid. He made people hate what they used to love."

"So, that's why I tied you up?"

"You wanted revenge on me for being oblivious to your love. I'm sorry, Ladybug, I really didn't know."

"Adrien, I do have feelings for you. But it would be too dangerous for us to date. I'm a superhero and you'd be in danger."

"But, what if I could prove to you that I could defend myself?"

"Even if you were as powerful as Chat Noir himself, I would still say no. We can't afford to give Hawk Moth any more of an edge than he already has."

"But..."

"I'm a superhero. I have no choice."

"I guess I have to live with that... for now. But when Hawk Moth is defeated?"

"We'll see. But if you fall for a girl at school in the meantime I won't blame you."

Adrien smiled at that. "I'll wait for you."

Ladybug sighed.

"One more thing," said Adrien. "Is it too late to cast a Miraculous cure? A lot of people are out there hating their loved ones."

"Oh no! I'd better try."

Ladybug summoned "Lucky Charm" and got only a spotted rubber ball. She threw it into the air, invoking "Miraculous Ladybug." Nothing happened.

"I don't know why it didn't work!" said Ladybug.

"I don't know. Because it's been too long after the battle?" asked Adrien.

"This akuma victim didn't do physical damage, just emotional, right?" asked Ladybug.

"You can get on the news and tell people how to cure their loved ones... all they need to do is kiss them," said Adrien.

"I'll take care of that."

"One more thing... before you go I need to get my ring back."

"Your - your ring? Did you propose?"

"My Chat Noir ring."

"What? Oh..."

* * *

Later that day, Chloé was watching the news.

"What? To get Sabrina back, I have to kiss her? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous..."

After thinking about it for a while Chloé called her butler.

"Jean Michael, I need you to catch Sabrina for me, and bring her somewhere where nobody else can see us..."

**The End**


End file.
